Sony’s Xperia X Concept software is now receiving an update on the experimental track that brings the May 1st 2017 Android security patch, as well as a number of fixes for known issues in the phone’s software. The security patch in question is not the full patch at the May 5th level, but the initial patch that Google released at the start of the month. One of the fixes in this update, is pertaining to the handling of the charging LED when rebooting the phone, was picked up by Google and put into the official AOSP repository. The update also includes bug fixes pertaining to the phone’s GPS, and a tweak that helps stability with the built-in low memory task killer. While Sony did not confirm this to be the final Xperia X Concept update in the text of the release, a previous announcement had stated that the final update would be coming early in May.
This update’s GPS fixes allow the GPS to lock far more quickly and reliably, with some posters on Sony’s InTouch forum saying that the GPS lock now comes as quickly as 2 seconds after the phone starts searching. As stated, this is supposedly the final update in the Xperia X Concept program, but the May 5th patch includes additional security fixes compared to the May 1st patch, which is integrated into this update. Additionally, this update is for the experimental software track, and Sony announced that the stable track will be getting the update in the near future. One pain point that users were asking about, being VoLTE, will likely not catch up to the stock firmware, according to a Sony representative on the forum.
While the Xperia X Concept program is coming to an end, the InTouch forums will stay open, and users can presumably continue developing for the phone. Users who want to continue receiving feature and security updates after the program ends for the Xperia X will have to switch over to the stock firmware track. Newer Xperia devices, such as the Xperia XZ, will reportedly receive their own website for update tracks outside of the normal stock software that the phone ships with.